Live data from Hacker News

Casper, Mattress Maker, Raises $170M and Plans I.P.O

nytimes.com

91–100 of 124 posts

Re: Casper, Mattress Maker, Raises $170M and Plans I.P.O

#91
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is absolutely insane, this "unlawful" review is as informative and objective as it gets: https://sleepopolis.com/mattress-reviews/tuft-and-needle-vs-... You shouldn't be able to sue someone for writing a review, this reeks of violating one's First Amendment rights.

>You shouldn't be able to sue someone for writing a review You can sue anyone for anything.

They said you "shouldn't" be able to. Being able to sue for anything becomes effective censorship by those with the deepest pockets.

Re: Casper, Mattress Maker, Raises $170M and Plans I.P.O

#92
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check out the DIY threads here: https://www.themattressunderground.com/mattress-forum/index.... . You usually have some kind of firm base, a middle layer, and a soft top layer. I went with a firm latex layer (44 ILD), a medium latex layer (30 ILD) [1], and a wool topper [2]. Very comfortable with good support, and a decent amount of bounce. [1] https://sleeponlatex.com/products/natural-latex-mattress-top... [2] https…

I was under the impression this might have information about moulding and pouring your own mattress, but you are referring to buying your own components to stack up into a mattress correct?

Not OP, but correct. I've never seen anyone create their own layers. DIY in this space simply means selecting/arranging multiple layers yourself, rather than buy a brand that has a bunch of layers pre-selected.

Re: Casper, Mattress Maker, Raises $170M and Plans I.P.O

#93
My inlaw family does run a mattress distribution company. They have represented many brands over the last 30 years. There is one thing that never changes, you get what you pay for. So before buying into the whole "cut the intermediaries", "mattresses have big markups", lies - yes, lies, I'd advice to do a lot of research and see what you buy.

I've run the idea of moving the family business to a similar online model to what casper, eve and others are doing, with similar prices, margins, etc. multiple times. and we always drop this idea off because it's impossible to sell in the prices these companies do and sleep well with yourself, i.e. these guys have the same margins but they sell pretty basic mattresses with a 5 years ( if you are lucky ) lifetime under regular use.

Re: Casper, Mattress Maker, Raises $170M and Plans I.P.O

#94
post #3

In the UK, Eve, a rival maker also just (around a month ago) IPO'd here in the UK. Their figures are scary at the moment, with a CPA hovering around £250-£300 and returns of 15% on the mattresses with the 100-night trial. All that with an average order value was only £450, on a product people buy every 10 years! They lost £11.3m last year on earnings of £12m, so no wonder their shares have been on the decline since I…

10 years is also quite optimist on this type of mattresses. Their compositions are usually very poor with low density foams that deform easily with time. I'd be surprised if models marked that cheap last more than 5 years on average.

Re: Casper, Mattress Maker, Raises $170M and Plans I.P.O

#95

Is it me or does anyone else fine $550 twin size mattress insanely expensive ? On amazon[0] you can find so many options under $100. I had one of these and used it for two years - it was still good in the end. [0] https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3...

Well that's it, they don't last as long.

Re: Casper, Mattress Maker, Raises $170M and Plans I.P.O

#96
post #4

good luck, there are like 10 clones out there already

Does that not prove the market?

It proves there's nothing special about Casper — their market sways entirely amongst competitors by who has the best deal on an almost identical product.

It's like selling entry-level Windows laptops. The average consumer doesn't give a shit.

Re: Casper, Mattress Maker, Raises $170M and Plans I.P.O

#97
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading the complaint ( https://sleepopolis.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/caspers-a... ) it looks like Casper is suing them for not disclosing their referral links are referral links whilst alleging that they steer people away from products they don't get good referrals on. I have no idea about the basis or any of the details but it's not just "wrote review, got sued".

Here's a review from just before the first complaint. It doesn't seem to mention any affiliate money. https://web.archive.org/web/20160427113129/http://sleepopoli... So, that might be a relevant complaint. I'm not sure why, now the site has the needed disclosures, it's okay for Casper to keep up the lawsuit.

Damages don't need to be ongoing to have standing, and damages in the past are still damages. The case isn't mooted by rectifying the situation that was causing harm unless it ameliorates the financial harms caused.

Re: Casper, Mattress Maker, Raises $170M and Plans I.P.O

#98
post #64

I'm not convinced that a mattress is even a useful product. I have been mattress free for about a third of my life and it's basically fine. The best argument for sleeping on a bed that I've heard is "chicks don't dig it", which has not been my experience, certainly not once you get through the door. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

What are you sleeping on instead?

Anything with about a centimetre of firm foam is fine. Yoga mats, work mats, etc.

Re: Casper, Mattress Maker, Raises $170M and Plans I.P.O

#100

The only way to buy a bed that makes sense to me is to go to the store and lay on them all, then buy the one that feels best. I don't understand apps and websites for this. You will sleep on it every night, for years!

I did that as well when buying my last bed, but I do genuinely wonder how rational it is. Is there really any correlation between how comfortable a bed is to lie on for 30 seconds and how comfortable a bed is to sleep on after a couple of month.
Post reply on HN